


Coming Home

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: City Mouse and Country Mouse [2]
Category: NCIS: New Orleans
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, Feels, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-06
Updated: 2018-04-06
Packaged: 2019-04-19 01:41:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14226339
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: Percy's undercover assignment lasts longer than it's supposed to, and LaSalle is going a little bit crazy.(This is set in a happy world where these two actually got their act together.)





	Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> I know there's only a handful of people actually still in this fandom, but I'm guessing you're as sad as I am so here's a present.

Two weeks, Percy had said. The ATF just needed her for one quick op, and only because one of her old undercover identities was the best way to get them in. She’d just be facilitating, mostly. Smoothing the introductions. Not a big deal.  
  
Almost a month and a half later, Chris was  _this_  close to punching a wall. The ATF insisted that nothing had gone wrong with the op, that the “parameters had simply expanded,” but they also couldn’t – or wouldn’t – give him any idea of when it might be over. Pride had even started trying to get information, but he was being stonewalled just as much as Chris was. The ATF had Percy hidden away somewhere, and there was no telling when they’d get her back.  
  
The uncertainty was turning Chris into something of an asshole. The team was sympathetic, and if something really was wrong he had no doubt they’d charge in with him, but he was getting hard enough to be around that today Loretta had nearly put him on a time out. He’d sent himself home early for the good of everyone, planning to make an evening out of glaring at the wall and trying not to worry about what was happening to Percy right now.  
  
He unlocked the door, tossing his keys on the table before heading toward the kitchen. He needed a beer, to check his email one more time to see if there was an update from the ATF, and then maybe—  
  
Halfway into the living room, he froze. Percy was curled up asleep on his couch, wearing the sleep pants she kept at his house and one of his t-shirts. He could see an Ace bandage around of her ankles, but no sign of any more serious injuries.  
  
For the first time in what seemed like forever, Chris felt like he could finally breathe again.  
  
Carefully, he walked over and sat down on the floor next to her head. Her car hadn’t been out front, which meant she’d either taken a taxi or had whatever agent was driving drop her off here instead of at her and Gregorio’s apartment. He had no idea how long she’d been here, but he’d never been so damn grateful to come home early.  
  
Gently, he reached up and brushed a curl away from Percy’s face. He went still when she shifted, not wanting to wake her up, but a few beats later her eyes slowly opened. When they focused on him, her lips curved upward into a soft smile. “Hey, Country Mouse.”  
  
“Hey, City Mouse,” he murmured back, voice rough with emotion.  
  
She leaned forward for a kiss, and though the angle was a little awkward it was still lingeringly tender and sweet enough to make his chest ache in the best way. When they broke apart, she gave him an affectionate look. “Were you being a little bit of a creeper and watching me sleep?”  
  
He grinned. “Just a little.”  
  
“Well, this whole two levels thing definitely isn’t working for me any more.” She pushed herself up into a sitting position. “Are you coming up here, or am I going down there?”  
  
He watched the stiffness in her movements, cataloging all the injuries he’d missed at first glance. The ATF clearly hadn’t done a good enough job watching her back. “Tell me you kicked their asses,” he said darkly, not sure if he meant the criminals they’d been chasing or her supposed team.  
  
Her expression suggested she’d heard both translations and was a little bit offended that he’d even question it. “Of course I kicked their asses,” she said exasperatedly, patting the cushion beside her. “Now, are you going to get _your_ ass up here, or are we both going to end up on the floor?”  
  
He took up his usual position on the couch, and Percy shifted closer and laid her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, recognizing the ache he’d been carrying around only after it was gone. It was like he fit right in his own skin again, all the pieces of him finally back where they were supposed to be.  
  
Percy was home, and everything was right in the world again.  
  
He pressed a kiss against her hair. “You know you could have taken the bed, right? Mi casa es su casa.”  
  
She made an amused sound. “I swear you pronounce it that way on purpose.”  
  
He grinned. “Gotta keep the country boy image up.”  
  
That got a laugh out of her. “We’d hate for you to lose your membership card.” Then she sighed. “I didn’t actually mean to fall asleep. I told myself I was just going to shut my eyes for a few minutes, then see if you had anything in the fridge I could pretend was just a really, really late lunch.”  
  
“You haven’t eaten?” He shifted, ready to slide out from under her and go solve the problem. “I haven’t been in much of a mood to do any real grocery shopping, but there’s still some of that soup you like in the—”  
  
“No, it’s okay.” She tightened her arms around him, keeping him in place. “I’m fine, really. Let’s just stay here a little longer.”  
  
He could hear the faintest edge of desperation in her voice, an echo of the same feeling he’d had building inside him for weeks, and his chest tightened as he settled back into his spot. “As long as you want, City Mouse,” he said quietly, stroking his hand over her hair. “I’ve got all night.”  
  
Percy didn’t say anything for a long moment, fingers curling in his shirt. “The agent in charge tried to get me to stay on, after the op was done,” she said finally. “Threw a hell of an incentive package at me, too. Said he hadn’t believed the stories, but that I really was one of the best undercover agents the ATF had ever seen.”  
  
Inside his head, Chris sternly told himself to relax. If she was thinking about actually taking the job, she would have brought it up differently. “I’m sure you are.”  
  
“Was, maybe.” He was surprised by the uncertainty in her voice. “To be a really good undercover agent, you have to live fully in your fake life without ever holding onto it too tight. That’s why it’s so hard for so many people – you have to pretend there isn’t anything else but the op, but at the same time you can’t get in so deep that you’re not able to cut and run when it’s all over.” She hesitated. “It never bothered me, because it was how I lived my life. The undercover work was just sort of an extension of that.”  
  
Christ tightened his arms around her, something inside him easing at the way she kept using past tense. “But not now?”  
  
She shook her head without lifting it. “When the op expanded on us, I knew I had to see it through. They’ve been trying to get at these guys with no success for almost a year, and suddenly it all just fell into place with me as the linchpin. Because I stayed, we got some pretty bad guys off the streets.”  
  
He’d known, the whole time, that the work she was doing was important. No matter how much it drove him crazy, sometimes he just had to sit back and let her do it.  
  
Percy sighed again. “But I was so  _pissed_  when I realized what had happened.” She sounded tired, suddenly, in a way she hadn’t before. “From the moment I went under to when we finally wrapped things up, all I really wanted to do was go home.”  
  
Home. To him. Chris’s throat closed up, like his heart had expanded so much it was trying to take over all the available space. He swallowed, pressing another kiss against her hair. “I’ve kind of been going crazy without you. Even Sebastian’s ready to kick my ass.”  
  
“Wow. You must have _really_ been an asshole to get him mad at you.” Still, her voice was soft and full of affection as she pressed a kiss against his chest. “Just bring everyone lunch to apologize. I’ll even help pay for some of it, since you could argue that it’s a little bit my fault they had to deal with asshole LaSalle for the last month.”  
  
“Just a little,” he murmured, voice rough with emotion. He was more certain than ever that this, right here, was the rest of his life. He’d found his partner, and he wasn’t giving her up for anything. “I’m really glad you’re home, Percy.”  
  
He could hear the smile in her voice. “Me, too.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my [original fiction,](https://jennifferwardell.wixsite.com/mybooks) my [blog,](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


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